


fast enough (so we can fly away)

by fluorescent_adolescent13



Series: remember we were driving [2]
Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, a lil soft and sad, alyssa tells emma why she choose the songs on her mixed cd, kind of a songfic i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22655524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluorescent_adolescent13/pseuds/fluorescent_adolescent13
Summary: “You brought me to the lookout,” Alyssa stated as a frown fell over her face, though the small smile that had been playing on her lips before remained. She turned down the stereo. “You know what people come here for right?”“Oh,” Emma stuttered as the realisation came over her. “No! I didn’t...that wasn’t why. I promise.”Alyssa nudged her arm gently, sensing the sharp change in her girlfriend’s demeanour. Her voice dropped down to a whisper, hoping that Emma would understand exactly what she meant. “I’ve never been up here.”-OR what happened after alyssa gave emma her mixed cd
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Series: remember we were driving [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1629793
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	fast enough (so we can fly away)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a quick continuation of a moment in another fic. Someone asked what songs were on the CD and it got me thinking. Let me know what you think!

“What do you want to do today?” Alyssa asked as she settled back into her seat, reaching for her seatbelt as the blush in her cheeks slowly faded away.

“I have a few things in mind,” Emma smiled as she pulled the car away from the kerb, still a little dazed. Things hadn’t been official between them for long. Hand holding had graduated to stealing kisses whenever one of them felt brave enough to take the lead. Emma couldn’t help but feel a little braver today after the gesture that Alyssa had made.

It wasn’t unusual for them to take the day as it came. It didn’t take much to keep either of them entertained as long as they were in each others’ company. Alyssa motioned towards her CD, almost forgetting that she'd brought it until the dashboard had caught her eye. 

“Can I?” Alyssa asked, reaching for the case as Emma nodded. She opened it up and slipped the disc into the stereo.

“I have a surprise too.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, it wouldn’t really be much of a surprise if I told you,” Emma teased. She let out a small laugh as the first guitar riff tore through the car. “The Black Keys. Good choice.”

Alyssa gave her a small shrug in response, a half smile dancing on her lips. The first songs weren’t that important. It was the second half of the disc that she was nervous about. They drove a little while longer, both singing along quietly to the music as it played out. Emma drummed her fingers against the steering wheel as the truck gradually climbed higher and higher, until the buildings in Edgewater seemed like tiny blocks of Lego in their peripheral vision. It all clicked in Alyssa’s brain as the car slowed down a few notches. 

“You brought me to the lookout,” Alyssa stated as a frown fell over her face, though the small smile that had been playing on her lips before remained. She turned down the stereo. Her head spun around as the passed a sign, her suspicions confirmed as she read it. “You know what people come here for right?”

“Oh,” Emma stuttered as the realisation came over her. “No! I didn’t...that wasn’t why. I promise.”

Alyssa’s laughter filled up the car, melodically rivalling the music that had been there before. It eased the sudden nervousness that had grown in the blonde’s stomach but all of her bravery had well and truly been thrown out the window.

Alyssa nudged her arm gently, sensing the sharp change in her girlfriend’s demeanour. Her voice dropped down to a whisper. “I’ve never been up here.”

She hoped that Emma would understand what she meant. 

Emma bit the inside of her lip, feeling her stomach settle slightly as she met Alyssa’s eyes. “Me neither.”

Alyssa nodded to herself. It was a nice idea. Romantic. She glanced out of the window and down to the gravel road that the car was creeping along, only opening her mouth again as Emma began pulling into a spot. There were a few cars dotted here and there but they were all empty - most likely hikers that wanted to go a little further up the trail than the road would allow. “Why are you reversing if we came up here for the view?”

Emma only smiled at her, pulling up the handbrake silently and slipping out of the driver’s side. Alyssa’s eyes narrowed as she reached for her own door handle. She could see Emma standing waiting for her in the wing mirror.

“You were in such a rush earlier,” Emma shrugged, waiting for Alyssa’s feet to hit the gravel before she said anything. 

The brunette took a few steps back to meet her, her eyes widening at the sight of the bed of the truck. Emma had spread out half a dozen pillows or so, covering the metal in a few layers of blankets to make it more comfortable for them both. 

Alyssa looked back to Emma, her eyes wide. “I didn’t even notice.”

Emma shook her head with a smile. She hopped up onto the truck, reaching out a hand to help her girlfriend up behind her and pausing slightly to look out at the view in front of them both. It might just have been her best idea yet.

* * *

Alyssa hummed contently as the first strums of a guitar filtered through their earphones. She’d made a playlist on her phone to go along with the CD she’d given Emma. It was a little more practical. Emma only smiled as she was handed an earbud, slipping it in and settling back onto the pillows. 

“You played this for me once,” Alyssa murmured, moving a little closer until their arms were touching. “Everything about it was just _so_ beautiful. You know the type of music that you can feel...I don’t know, pulling at you? Tugging at your chest.”

_One night of magic rush, the start a simple touch_

“I remember.”

“Maybe it was just because you were the one playing it,” Alyssa smiled. She reached for Emma’s hand, interlocking their fingers. “I don’t know.”

_We had a promise made, we were in love_

“It’s a sad song, ‘Lys.”

_To call for hands from above, to lean on, wouldn’t be good enough_

She nodded a little. “I know.”

Emma rolled onto her side, meeting Alyssa’s eyes dead on. She kept their hands together - bending their arms at the elbow and resting them both against her stomach. The song slowed, the final guitar notes fading away until a new track replaced it. 

“I like this one,” Emma said quietly.

_Oh, to see without my eyes, the first time that you kissed me_

Alyssa untucked her arm from behind her head, starting to feel pins and needles tingling beneath her skin. She wiggled a little closer before moving onto her side just as Emma had before her, resting her head flat on the pillow and meeting the blonde’s gaze again.

“Me too,” Alyssa replied. “It was in that movie we watched. I went home and listened to it and it took my breath away.”

Emma teased. “Another sad song.”

_Feel my feet above the ground, hand of God deliver me_

Alyssa only hummed in response. She reached over to push back a stray blonde curl that had fallen onto Emma’s face, her fingers lingering against her skin for a moment longer than necessary until she found the words that she wanted to say. “I know they didn’t get their happy ending but the way that they felt about each other reminded me of us. Of the way that I feel about you. How _much_ I feel.”

Emma leaned in slowly, taking her cue to press her lips gently against Alyssa’s. She couldn’t think of a much better way to respond to the brunette’s words than than. She watched as Alyssa let out a small sigh, her eyes fluttering closed again as she grew more content under the sun rays and Emma’s watchful gaze. 

“‘Lys,” Emma whispered as the next song began.

Alyssa’s eyes peaked open. Almost as though she was scared to see the blonde’s reaction.

_There is not a single word in the whole word, that could describe the hurt-_

“Just listen,” Alyssa replied softly, her eyes opening fully and latching onto Emma’s. “I mean every word.”

_And I, I hate to see your heart break. I hate to see your eyes get darker as they close-_

Emma had to look away for a second. She began tracing shapes over the back of the brunette’s hand, focusing on the small movements of her fingers to keep herself grounded as the rest of the lyrics rang out. She knew this song. It was enough to make her eyes well up on a good day. The endearing look behind Alyssa’s eyes would set her off, Emma had no doubts about that.

_For all the air that’s in your lungs, for all the joy that is to come_

_For all the things that you’re alive to feel_

“Just let the pain remind you hearts can heal,” Emma whispered along with the music. 

Alyssa squeezed her hand. It didn’t matter how hard she tried, the words never found their way out past her throat. She wasn’t quite sure how to tell Emma that everything she’d watched the blonde go through had broken her own heart too many times to count. Watching her get harrassed for who she was. Being too terrified to come out herself. The fact that she was kicked out of her own home for it all while Alyssa got to pretend that everything was fine.

Emma knew though. She held her gaze for a second longer before inching her way closer to the brunette. She rested her forehead against Alyssa, bringing her hand up to stroke her thumb across the other girl’s cheek before leaning forward again. A little harder than before. Catching Alyssa’s bottom lip between her own and trying to pour all what she was feeling into one long kiss. Emma pulled back after a moment, taking in her girlfriend’s features as though she were about to disappear, before kissing her again with a newfound tenderness that surprised them both. Emma definitely knew how Alyssa felt.

A smile crept onto both of their lips as the next song began.

“Finally,” Emma groaned with a laugh, nudging the tip of Alyssa’s nose with her own. “A happy song.”

She pulled Alyssa in a little closer, moving back until she was lying flat again. Alyssa rested her temple against the blonde’s chest, letting the light thump of her heartbeat echo against one ear while the music still played in the other. The view wasn’t even the best part of their trip up here. 

_I saw your face and I knew it was a sign, and I still think about that moment all of the time_

Alyssa hummed as Emma’s hand found its way into her curls, letting out a long breath as she began combing through them gently. “Definitely a happy song.”

“We should come back here more often.”

_So many things that I still wanna say, and if devotion is a river then I’m floating away_

A smile tugged at the corners of Alyssa’s mouth. “Do I have to make you a new CD every time or-?”

_I feel it in my body, know it in my mind_

“Hmm,” Emma giggled. “I think I’ll settle just for you.”

_Oh I, I’m gonna love you for a long time._

**Author's Note:**

> alyssa's playlist:
> 
> heartbeats / jose gonzalez  
> howlin' for you / black keys  
> carried away / passion pit  
> mystery of love / sufjan stevens  
> hate to see your heart break / paramore  
> love you for a long time / maggie rogers  
> slip away / perfume genius  
> fast car / tracy chapman  
> i need my girl / the national


End file.
